Flour sack towels

Can’t put cloth in an oven

From what I’ve seen/done most use a rice flour dusted, linen liner in their baskets.  But, then, the basket is inverted, to remove the bread dough onto parchment, or directly into a preheated Dutch oven, then docked (or scored) right before being put in the oven.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen them put in the oven in the banneton basket, with or without a liner.  If some people are doing that, I don’t think it’s a safe idea.

I'm trying to imagine what might have caused your misperception, so I'll cover some possibilities.

1.  First, dough is taken  out of lined (or unlined) baskets when put into the oven. Dough can be put on or in various things in the oven to bake it.

2. Sellers on Amazon sometimes show pictures of a baked (done) loaf sitting in a banneton (basket).   No one I know actually puts a baked loaf back in a banneton, unless it is for those silly pictures. (Sometimes people put bread in other baskets, and wrap it in cloth or a napkin to keep it warm. Those pictures are for show only, they are not "real."  The sellers just want to associate their product in your mind with bread.

3. You may have seen pictures of people using wet towels to steam an oven.  Those are taken out of the oven before they get dry and burn.

4. Some long or oval doughs are proofed (final rise) on a towel/cloth called a "couche" without a basket.  The cloth is bunched up on the sides to hold up the dough, and to separate them if there is more than one piece of dough. But this cloth is not put in the oven.

5. Other things that might be mistaken for cloth in the oven are: parchment paper, and a silicone baking mat.  These can be used up to the temperature recommended by the manufacturer.

Hope that helps.  

(I generally use a round banneton lined with a linen liner, or a tea towel, and generously dusted with rice and/or wheat flour.)